The Dowager Countess will be delighted. The third series of the British costume drama Downton Abbey opened to a record audience of nearly eight million viewers in the US, the biggest ever audience for its stateside broadcaster, PBS.

Downton Abbey was watched by 7.9 million people on Sunday night, nearly double the 4.2 million who watched the opening episode of series two.

The season premiere, which featured the wedding of Matthew and Lady Mary Crawley, delivered public service broadcasting network PBS its highest ever ratings, making it the second most-watched network in its timeslot, beaten only by CBS.

Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess, left, and Shirley MacLaine.

Downton's big numbers came in spite of a controversial decision by PBS to air the Julian Fellowes drama more than three months after it screened in the UK.

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It is a sign of Downton Abbey's US appeal, because PBS's primetime shows are typically watched by around two million viewers.

The first episode of season three also featured the first appearance by Oscar-winning US actor Shirley MacLaine.

Series three finished in the UK at the end of last year and was followed by a Christmas special which was deemed lacklustre by some critics but had a consolidated audience of more than 10 million viewers.

Paula Kerger, PBS president and chief executive, said: "Downton Abbey continues to enthrall audiences nationwide, and this season is especially riveting with the addition of Shirley MacLaine to the cast and the lively interaction between her and Maggie Smith.

"I'm so pleased that audiences have returned to Downton Abbey to continue to enjoy some of the best drama on television."

Winner of seven Emmy awards in the US, Downton is nominated for three awards at the Golden Globes this Sunday (Monday AEST).

Guardian News & Media

12 comments

My sister sent series three of Downton out from the UK for my Xmas present. I watched ALL episodes pretty much back to back on Boxing Day eating Lindor balls form the fridge. Bliss.

Commenter

ramona

Location

paddington

Date and time

January 09, 2013, 4:00PM

Wow. I bet no one else thought of doing that.

Commenter

Biff

Location

Randwick

Date and time

January 09, 2013, 10:16PM

And we are still waiting for it to be aired here in Australia ...... Channel 7 you sux

Commenter

MT

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

January 09, 2013, 4:43PM

Tony Abbott should be happy. The irony of him saying he prefers to watch this instead of football- except the football wasn't screened on the same day! Just another Abbott blunder.

Commenter

A country gal

Location

Date and time

January 09, 2013, 4:43PM

Brilliant series,shame it's been bought by a commercial channel and not the ABC,Maggie Smith priceless

Commenter

starship

Location

sydney

Date and time

January 09, 2013, 7:19PM

With the way the 7 Network have mucked this show up, delaying it, like Revenge, I haven't bothered watching it on TV but will probably buy it on DVD.As for Revenge. Rather than wait for 7, I've had a friend of mine send me the latest episodes, so I'm up to episode 10 of season 2. Why wait for 7 to catch up?

Commenter

AM

Location

Sydney

Date and time

January 09, 2013, 8:18PM

Just go onto eBay and you'll be able to order your own copy! Watched it last November and have lent Series 3 to most of my friends to watch. Waiting for the Tv stations and their incredible commercial load is just not for me. I was so fed up after the firest episode of Series 2 that I went on line and bought that series as well. Forget waiting for the TV.

Commenter

K Chapman

Location

Qld

Date and time

January 09, 2013, 8:37PM

Gee, thank you so much for the big old spoiler alert. SOME of us had been waiting to watch this series and such...

Commenter

Ellie

Location

Date and time

January 10, 2013, 7:04AM

Agreed.

Thanks for the spoiler alert SMH, very helpful.

Commenter

NSG

Location

Date and time

January 10, 2013, 7:57AM

Umm, it was an article about series 3, so common sense says that the article would mention something about what happened in series 3.